Theology of work
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
Scot McKnight has kicked off a discussion of Darrell Cosden’s The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work.
If this catches your attention then you might also be interested in some posts I did a few months ago on this book.
Coincidentally, I’ve been preparing a talk which touches on Christians and work. In the process I found a piece by Miroslav Volf: God and Work.
I’ll also mention again another article that I’ve linked to before: Work as sacrament by Curtis Chang.
Tags: The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work
The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work (aftermath 2)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
OK, still on Darrell Cosden’s book and a couple of points where I would come back for further discussion…
First, the start of the book looks at the implicit ‘heirarchy of callings’ in the church — based on whose work is assumed to have eternal value. The underlying assumption is that such a heirarchy is wrong. I don’t want to disagree with that, but perhaps the assumption could have been explored more. After all, maybe it is the case that some vocations have a greater eternal value & we just have to live with that. Or perhaps we have to accept that the eternal value of my work is indirect, in that I support those who have a more obvious impact. Not a big issue, but one that perhaps should have been given some space.
Second is a slight lack of satisfaction with the exegesis in the book. Obviously the problem Cosden has is that no New Testament writers are aiming to deal with this issue in particular, so you don’t have nice explicit passages. I felt like the book got a little unclear in finding a way through — in trying to take a normal systematic approach it’s possible to get lost in the detailed discussion.
An interesting contrast is an article by Douglas Moo on ‘New Testament Eschatology and the Environment‘. This covers a not unrelated issue (is there continuity between nature now and the new creation) and has a similar problem. However, it seems to me that Moo takes a more helpful approach. He starts head-on, with the observation that there is no clear statement on the issue, but aims to survey the underlying theology.
I think Cosden is trying for more — building a clear case for the inclusion of our work in new creation — but ends up with a less robust result.
Not that the discussions aren’t helpful — for instance the parts on Romans 8 and Revelation 21/22 are great. But it was not completely satisfying.
Maybe I was hoping for more than is possible! Or need to sit and think about it more…
Tags: eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work
The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work (aftermath 1)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
OK, let’s try a few posts on thoughts inspired by Darrell Cosden’s The Heavenly Good of Earth Work….
First, it is great that this book works to add a eschatological component to our discussions of how Christian belief applies to all of life.
For a number of years, the application of our beliefs to all of life has been a big theme for me. That is, developing a comprehensive Christian worldview. But, there is a slight niggle — a sort of missing link. After reading this, I think part of the niggle has been the feeling that not every thing quite joins up. We have, on one side, the push for all of our thinking to be based on our beliefs about the world and for what we believe to influence all we do. But, on the other, the necessity does not always feel as strong as it ‘should’.
I think a lot of this comes down to eschatology — I can try to apply what I believe to my studies/work/etc., but if all of the things I study/make/etc are headed for the dustbin, then where is the real motivation? Why not expend the mental energy in something more worthwhile?
Cosden’s arguments make an important step in the right direction. (I’m not implying that he has doen somthing other haven’t here, but perhaps he spells it out in a particularly clear way.) If we have the view that things we do at work/study/etc have the potential for ‘heavenly good’ then the dots start to link up better. Now we have a clear motivation for applying what we believe across the board — where the things we do don’t match up with God’s future they become valueless, but where they do… So, if I want them to have significance, I really need to work on how my beliefs impact my day-to-day activities and developing an all-emcompassing worldview.
Tags: books, eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work, worldview
The Heavenly Good of Earth Work (4)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
The final chapter of Darrell Cosden’s The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work looks at the impact of the preceding discussion on our view of missions. He starts by looking at the ‘crisis’ in missions. In particular, at his own experiences in Russia. In his experience there was an implicit denigration of ‘everyday work’ as those visiting on missions implied that they had been called from meaningless work to something more important. The general message being that everyday work is cut off from God’s mission.
This can be implied in any church when
… our practice of church, our spiritual heroes, and our beliefs about spiritual/eternal things have spoken louder than our words and have undermined what we intended… our words ring hollow when we only regularly and publicly pray for those missionaries on ‘faith support’. And it is hard to believe we really are full-time ‘salt and light’ when only visiting missionaries are asked to come up front in church and visit small groups to talk about the ups and downs of their ministries.
Obviously, a theology based on the ‘heavenly good’ of everyday work takes us to a more inclusive perspective. If all our work can be part of God’s new creation and involves us partnering with God, then we have the potential to be part of God’s mission in every area of our lives.
…when done in a way that images God and co-operates with him, human work in itself images God and thus co-operates with him, human work in itself is Christian missionary activity. Why? Because it is largely (though not exclusively) through our work that we reflect God’s image and co-operate with him in bringing people and the whole of creation to humanity’s and nature’s ultimate maturity and future.
This is, of course, incredibly liberating. Suddenly, I can become part of God’s mission in everything. Not just when preaching, but also when I carry out my everyday work in ways that line up with God’s kingdom.
Of course, we need to find a way to counteract the negative message that has been sent out. How do we do this?
Mostly we need to proactive. Slow and steady will win the race. When we are together in our various Christian gatherings and meetings, small or large, formal or informal, we have to be intentional about devising ways to help us see each person in their daily work as a missionary … [we] need to consciously practice naming ourselves and our work as missionary.
Finally Cosden looks at the way this interacts with evangelism. If we are all made in the image of God and our work is important, then all of us, non-believers and believers, are to larger or smaller extent working with God’s mission:
All people were created to image God, and thus all people by virtue of their humanity are included in God’s purposes for creation. Not all people image God in fellowship with him, but we do nevertheless corporately carry out his mission to work in one way or another.
Importantly, our new mission enterprise based on the heavenly good of earthly work treats people differently from our old approach to mission. God still includes in his purposes those who haven’t yet, haven’t fully, or even won’t ever, come to faith.
Previously, it was simple to catagorize people sharply as either ‘them’ or ‘us’. In this way of thinking, the tendency was always to dehumanize others by treating ‘them’ ultimately as projects.
This is a really fascinating line of thought. I’m particularly interested in the consequence of not treating others as projects. It something that I’ve noticed for a long time: sometimes we seem to be more worried about ‘contacts’ than friends. As Cosden implies, unless we are careful this is a frequent tendency.
Finally Cosden links this into the ‘belonging-before-believing’ debate:
…this new understanding of mission is actually not all that new. In fact, it dovetails nicely with what many of us have been discovering for a long time about mission. That is, people need to be included. They need to belong before they can believe.
In many ways, this final chapter shows the motivation that Cosden has had all along — the expansion to a fuller understanding of mission. And, as I said, it is a great vision that makes a lot of sense and enlarges our view of God’s new creation to one that really encompasses the whole world.
Hopefully, I will find time to write some other reactions to the book n the near future…
Tags: books, eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work, worldview
The Heavenly Good of Earth Work (3)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
OK, back to Darrell Cosden’s book. The last section works toward building a ‘spirituality of work’ and the impact of the preceding discussion on missions. Let’s try for the first of those here.
He starts by looking at the problems surrounding work and our perspectives. An particularly interesting quote is…
A bad theology of work(s), therefore leads to a failure to enter genuinely into our salvation/justification. There are complex reasons for this, but part of it is that our work(s) are part of who we are, and they cannot help but seek some kind of spiritual home. If we don’t find an appropriate spiritual category for our work, then it takes over our lives and becomes alien to us. It begins to dominate us as we become dis-integrated people.
As we have seen, our work finds its spiritual justification, its alternate home and value, through out justification. Our work is an outworking and expression of who we are. Thus, our justification becomes our work’s justification too. through our freedom in Christ, our work(s) becomes set free so that it has a genuine earthly usefulness now, but also a continued existence, like we do, in heaven.
That triggers all sorts of thoughts and discussions. Not least the thought that in (rightly) guarding against work for our justification, we can throw away too much and find a part of our life that never really gets fitted into God’s plan. Cosden’s argument is that, if we dont’ consciously fit it in to our spirituality, then it takes a distorted place and causes problems. For instance, we subconsciously try to use working hard as a way to pay God back. On the other hand
The fact that God in ‘making all things new’ chooses to incorporate our work(s) moitivates us but does not crush us. It fills our work with meaning and purpose — but not more than we as humans can bear.
In addition, with this perspective we start to have a basis for making real judgments about our work — how does what I do fit in with ‘new creation’?
Tags: books, eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work
The Heavenly Good of Earth Work (links)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
I should have posted these at the start of my on-going review of The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work:
There are extracts available on the publisher’s site.
The is a LICC review & related article in the July ‘Workwise’.
Curtis Chang has written an article which touches on the same sort of issues/ideas.
Tags: books, eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, work
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